1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to solenoid or electromagnetically operated fluid control valves employed in applications where the valve will accurately vary fluid pressure at a control port in accordance with variations in an electrical control signal, which may be derived from a computer and sensor, which can vary the on-off time of energization of the solenoid.
2. Prior Art
While there are many applications for such a valve, one application which has been of interest in recent years is that of the control of an automatic transmission for a motor vehicle by independently regulating the engagement pressure applied to each of the various clutches in the transmission. The torque transmitted by a given clutch may be varied by varying the pressure of engagement between the opposed clutch plates. Presently available electronic control units can rapidly and precisely generate the desired electrical output signals in response to sensed vehicle operating conditions. One such valve is described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/471,709, filed Jan. 29, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,559, entitled "Solenoid Operated Pressure Control Valve" assigned to the same assignee as herein which is incorporated by reference in its entirety hereby.
However, converting these electrical control signals into a precisely proportional fluid pressure which will accurately track variations in the electrical control signal has posed problems.
In such a system, a solenoid actuated valve is a logical choice as the interface between the electrical and hydraulic portions of the system. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,145 which describes a solenoid actuated valve for such an application. A system employing a valve of the type shown in that patent is described in some detail in SAE Technical Paper 840448.
As in U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,145, a solenoid actuated valve may be designed to regulate the pressure at a control port by cyclically connecting the control port alternately to a source of fluid under pressure and to a fluid sump, these alternate connections being made in accordance with the energization or deenergization of the solenoid coil. An electronic processor may be employed to regulate the time during each cycle the coil is energized ("on time"), the coil being deenergized for the remainder of the cycle ("off time"). This type of regulation is commonly referred to as pulse width modulation. A typical operating pulse frequency might be 60 Hz. In steady state operation the pressure at the control port will be that percentage of the fluid source pressure which is equal to that percentage of time which the control port is connected to the fluid source, sump pressure being assumed to be zero, as in the case of the so-called "duty cycle" solenoid valve used in fuel injection system applications such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,135,482 and 4,311,126, for example.
In order to enable the control port pressure to be varied in a true linear relationship to variations in "on time" of the solenoid coil, the valve member which controls the fluid connection of the control port to pressure supply or sump must be capable of rapid shifting movement in close synchronism with the energization and deenergization of the coil. Further, the valve member should also be movable in response to a relatively small magnetic force in order to minimize the size and power requirements of the solenoid.
Two problems have arisen with prior art solenoid actuated valves. First, because valve members, such as armatures, are moved at relatively numerous cycles per second and impact upon a portion of the valve housing or other armature stop for each cycle, performance and durability of the valve can be greatly reduced due to contact or impact stress caused by the recurring impact. Second, because valve members and valve bodies have relatively flat surfaces that contact each other with fluid therebetween, there may result in a vacuum lock being created between the two members which can prevent or interfere with the relative movement between the members and thereby interfere with the proper operation of the valve.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide an improved fluid control valve that can overcome disadvantages in the prior art as well as provide other advantages.